Originally Posted by
CalebJ
Until my first trip to the Whites, I'd never experienced a strong desire to have a GPS available for backcountry navigation. Up near the Madison hut in February of 2019, though, we ran into total whiteout conditions. After wandering around for a few minutes, one of our guys pulled out an inReach and was immediately able to orient us and we walked straight up to the hut. There were no visible landmarks whatsoever, so a map and compass really weren't doing any good. I bought an inReach myself for the trip the following year and maintain an active subscription. Full disclosure - I almost never actually carry it for trips around here because a whiteout isn't something we really experience, but I'd absolutely grab it for trips in other areas, particularly by myself. Between the navigation and being able to send out a message in an emergency, it's well worth the weight and a few dollars a month.